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Saturday, 11 July 2015

While
performing Umrah, I have observed people doing many mistakes. After a
reasonable research on this topic, I have found some common mistakes committed
during Hajj and Umrah by Pilgrims. Now it is your responsibility to spare 5
minutes to read about them. Common Mistakes Committed during Hajj and Umrah
by Pilgrims are given below

Thinking
that your Dua is accepted at the first glance of the Holy Kaaba: Numerous
people have the idea that the first time that they ever set eyes on the
Holy Kaaba, any Dua that they make will be promptly answered. This is not supported by Sahi Ahadith. Any hadith which we may find
supporting this matter can be assumed as weak or false.

Kissing
the Black Stone from a far and stopping mid Tawaf to do so: The
act of kissing the black stone is a beautiful Sunnah and an honor for all those
who are able to do so. However, as there is a huge crowd, most of the people
cannot reach the stone and hence send kisses from a far, when they are in line
with the Black Stone. These people stop right in their tracks to kiss the Black
Stone, however they fail to realize that stopping suddenly causes disruption in
the flow of the Tawaf of the other pilgrims around them. If we want to follow
the Sunnah correctly, then the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) only kissed the
stone when he could and when he couldn’t, he touched the Black Stone with his
hand and then kissed his hand. However in case there was a huge crowd, he only
pointed towards the Black Stone.

Shouting
out the Dua in unison: Some people during their pilgrimage
tend to shout at the very top of their voices in unison while reading Dua while
performing Tawaf. These people follow a leader or Imam who shouts out different
Duas and all the people being lead by him, and then recite these Duas. This
creates confusion for the other pilgrims as it makes them lose their focus. The
better thing to do is to make a list of Duas which you may want to read during
Tawaf, and read them in your own language in your own speed to get a better
satisfaction and better concentration.

Designation
of specific Duas for different rounds of the Tawaf: Some
pilgrims designate specific Duas to be read on different rounds of the Tawaf
and there are also special books which allot different Duas for every round of
the Tawaf. The Sunnah does not indicate that the Holy Prophet did any such
thing, for if he did, it would have been mentioned. The only one that He did
read at the end of every Tawaf was “Our Lord, give us good in this world and
good in the Hereafter and save us from the punishment of the Fire”

Doing
Tawaf on behalf of someone else: Several people make this
mistake every year by circumambulating the Holy Kabah seven times and then they
donate the reward of this action to their family or loved ones who are either
unable to perform it themselves or have passed away. This is definitely not
valid as there is no evidence to support this. Hajj and Umrah can be done on
behalf of another, however only the Tawaf cannot.

Thinking
that the Jamarat is the Devil: When people go to stone
the Jamarat they often have the wrong idea in their head that they are in fact
going to stone the devil. In fact these people think that they are stoning
Iblees himself. People have also started to call this act as the Stoning of the
Shaitan. This is however not at all true. The Jamarat are not the devil. All we
can and should do is to stone these Jamarat as an act of worship and as a
remembrance of the messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and remembrance of
Allah. Hence it is advised not to cuss at the Jamarat and no need to push,
shove or get emotional during the process.

Hair Cut after Saee: People start cutting their hair in as soon as they complete their Umrah at the end of Saee on Marwa mountain. They cut their hair from 2,3 places and consider that they are done with Umrah. The correct way of doing this is to go to proper barber and ask him to cut your hair from all over the head. Cutting your hair from 2,3 places on the head does not relieve you from the conditions of the Ahram.

Wiping
or touching the Kabah: People while performing the pilgrimage
tend to think that touching the Kabah or the Maqam Ibrahim will bring them
blessings, as a result people wipe their hands over the pillars of the Grand
Mosque or the Prophet’s Mosque and subsequently rub the hands all over
themselves as they believe they are getting blessings. This act has no evidence
in accordance to the Shariah. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Such an act, if it were beneficial, would have been done by the Holy Prophet
and the Sahaba. However since nothing like this has been recorded or reported
it should be understood that this will not bring us blessings.

Praying
of 40 prayers is compulsory in Madina: Some people think that it
is necessary to complete the 40 prayers in the Prophet’s Mosque and that it is
a necessary part of Hajj. However it is certainly not so. This act has been
based on a Hadith which is considered as weak. This action along with visiting
Madina as part of the Hajj pilgrimage is not necessary. It is a good thing none
the less however it is certainly not necessary.

Wearing Ahram below waste line: I have also seen people wearing Ahram below waste line. As a result the area below belly button is exposed to every one. This is the private area and every Muslim has the responsibility to hide it from others. It is not appropriate to pray even Salah if this area is exposed.